Welcome to Goodsell Observatory

Goodsell Observatory is located at 93° 09' 07.9" W and 44° 27' 42.4" N, altitude 290 m, on the campus of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. The building, built in the late 1890s, houses three historic telescopes. In the larger dome there is a 16.2-inch John Brashear refractor, and in the smaller dome there is an 8 ¼-inch Alvan Clark and Sons refractor. Downstairs resides a transit telescope originally used to help set the time in the midwest. All three telescopes are over one hundred and ten years old, and both the 8" and the 16" telescopes are regularly used for open houses.

Goodsell is also equipped with modern telescopes—8-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain LX200s—used for classes and open houses. These telescopes are set up when needed on permanent piers located behind the observatory on the east lawn. Also available for use are SBIG STT-8300M, STF-8300M, and ST-2000XM CCD cameras with LRGB and narrowband filters. These are used outside with the portable scopes or with either of the permanent scopes, and are supported by six computers on moveable carts. Click here for more information and images of Goodsell's equipment.

With this equipment, and classes which allow students to gain experience in using them, Carleton College remains a pioneer in undergraduate astronomical studies.